DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities: claim 1 recites “the heat receiving plate” in line 14; it must be recited as “the finned heat receiving plate”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hino (JP 2019057739 A).
Claim 1: Hino discloses a cooling device (FIG.1) for a power device (intended use), comprising:
a first casing member as a plate member (31), a second casing member as a frame member (frame member 21) having a predetermined thickness (inherent), and
a finned heat receiving plate (fin body 3) having a heat receiving surface (plate inherently has a surface) joined to an exothermic body (intended use), each of which are made of aluminum material (paragraph [16]: all made of aluminum); and
a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet (paragraph [24]: openings 35, 35 are one is inlet for fluid and other one is outlet) formed in any one of the first casing member (31) and the finned heat receiving plate at positions to be opposed to each other (top/bottom of plate),
wherein the second casing member (frame member 21) has the predetermined thickness possible to prevent warpage thereof by a heat when joining the exothermic body to the heat receiving surface (intended use/functional language), and
an inlet side coolant guide (front protruding portion used as inlet coolant guide 33) communicated with the coolant inlet (35) and an outlet side coolant guide (rear protruding portion used as outlet coolant guide 34) communicated with the coolant outlet (35) are formed in the second casing member (21) at positions to be opposed to each other (see FIG.2),
the finned heat receiving plate (3) comprises a plurality of fins (43) formed integrally on an inner surface (inherent) of the heat receiving plate (3) within a region excluding a joint section that is to be joined (fins 43 are on region 42 which is not on section joined 21; see FIG.2) to the second casing member (21), and
each clearance between the adjoining fins (43) serves as a flow passage, and the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are joined to one another, and the fins (43) are joined to the first casing member (31; to clarify, liquid cooling structure is manufactured that all plates are joined together forming structure in FIG.1).
Claim 2: Hino discloses the apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are brazed with one another (paragraph [58]: all plates can be brazed together during brazing process).
Claim 3: Hino discloses the apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are brazed with one another while forming a layer of brazing material on at least any one of the adjoining members to be brazed with each other, applying brazing material to at least any one of the adjoining members to be brazed with each other (paragraph [37]: brazing material forming brazing material layer), or using a brazing plate, brazing powder, or a brazing rod.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hino (JP 2019057739 A).
Claim 4: Hino discloses the apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are made of aluminum alloy selected from the group consisting of the 1000 series pure aluminum, the 3000 series Al-Mn series, the 6000 series Al-Mg-Si series, and the 8000 series Al-Fe series (Preferred Material: Hino discloses aluminum and aluminum alloy, except for the 3000 series Al-Mn series, the 6000 series Al-Mg-Si series, and the 8000 series Al-Fe series. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify the invention of Hino in order to enhance thermal conductivity (paragraph [16]), since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice).
Claim 5: Hino as modified discloses the apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are brazed with one another using flux containing cesium fluoride (Preferred Material: Hino discloses aluminum and aluminum alloy, except for the 6000 series Al-Mg-Si series, cesium fluoride. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify the invention of Hino in order to enhance thermal conductivity (paragraph [16]), in a case that the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are made of the 6000 series aluminum alloy (Preferred Material).
Claim 6: Hino discloses the apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are made of aluminum alloy (paragraph [16]: aluminum and aluminum alloy) selected from the group consisting of the 1000 series pure aluminum, the 3000 series Al-Mn series, the 6000 series Al-Mg-Si series, and the 8000 series Al-Fe series (Preferred Material: Hino discloses aluminum and aluminum alloy, except for the 1000 series pure aluminum, the 3000 series Al-Mn series, the 6000 series Al-Mg-Si series, and the 8000 series Al-Fe series. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify the invention of Hino in order to enhance thermal conductivity (paragraph [16]), since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice).
Claim 7: Hino as modified discloses the apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are brazed with one another using flux containing cesium fluoride CsF, in a case that the first casing member (31), the second casing member (21), and the finned heat receiving plate (3) are made of the 6000 series Al-Mg-Si series aluminum alloy (Preferred Material: Hino discloses aluminum and aluminum alloy, except the 6000 series Al-Mg-Si series, cesium fluoride. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify the invention of Hino in order to enhance thermal conductivity (paragraph [16]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure which is relevant to cold plate:
Yang (US 2021/0176896 A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAMRAN TAVAKOLDAVANI whose telephone number is (313)446-6612. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.
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/KAMRAN TAVAKOLDAVANI/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/PAUL ALVARE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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